Ingredients:
250 gm self rising flour
140 gm chinese peen thong/gula melaka/gula kabung
100 ml water
150 gm very thick coconut milk(by weight)
a pinch of salt
Method:
Chop up the sugar into small pieces and add 100 ml water.
Cook in the microwave or stovetop until sugar melts. Sieve and let it cool.
Add all the ingredients in the cake mixer and using the whisk, whisk until thick and smooth.
Heat the spaghetti pot with 2 inches of water and bring to high boil with the cups on the steamer to heat them before pouring in the batter which should be 90% full. Cover lid tightly and steam for 15 minutes. The kuih should smile if the right amount of batter, time for steaming and maintaining high heat are observed.
Notes
The ones made with gula melaka are very fragrant while the ones with peen thong are very plain but not floury though.
Serves
Dear Lily,
ReplyDeleteYou have made me smile - "why I make this, I don't even like eating it". I thought your previous attempts looked pretty good. I saw one that was extremely colorful. But I like your latest attempt - it is something I would eat. Thanks!
lee ping
ReplyDeletethe previous smiling cakes have eggs and it is like making sponge cake whereas this is just flour, sugar and coconut milk. you could make with milk but it will not be so fragrant. The bamboo steamer over the wok is too high and the tiny flat base of the wok that is sitting on the ceramic burner does not create enough heat to make the cake smile. Just like the chee cheong fun, the right skillet with only 1 inch of water, made the chao so easy.
Hi Lily, I can relate to your repeated attempts to make something you don't even like :)
ReplyDeleteI don't like French macarons, but failure after failure, and I still kept at it, until I finally understood what went wrong and achieved consistent successes:)
Cheers,
Lai Fong
PS. Btw there are plenty of good food blogs which I enjoy, but I like yours the best by far. Really hope you will keep on writing.
Hi lily , good job, just for your info in indonesia they made this with soda water( sprite or 7 up/ fanta), some they used yeast and after that soda water.
ReplyDeleteanonymous
ReplyDeletethe recipe using soda water is here http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2007/03/smiling-steam-cakes.html. this cakes are very soft and delicate.
Dear Lily,
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by chao?
Thanks.
lee ping
ReplyDeletemy apology for the confusion. i had wanted to say chore but i was thinking of the chaos that i create everytime i make chee cheong fun.
I have to agreed your blog by far is one of my favorites. Keep up with the good work. Tried your Yam Cake the other day it was yummy and will try your chee cheong fun if I am not too lazy this weekend.
ReplyDeleteDear Lily,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your explanation. Ironically, chores and chaos is on my mind now. Kids are home and I have to start dinner. Have a good afternoon....
Hello. Did you find that the cakes came out better with the soda water receipe or with this receipe? I've tried making them with soda water - and unfortunately they didn't come out well. Yours look great!
ReplyDeletewokandspoon
ReplyDeletewhen they did not come out well, do you mean that they did not smile or the taste is floury?
For them to smile is that the steaming has to be on very high steam and the amount of batter to be 90% of the cup.
the amount of soda water in the smiling steamed cakes is so little that i can hardly taste it but because that recipe has eggs, it tasted so much better.
Hello. Both - they didn't smile and they were slightly floury! I'll definitely have to try again!
ReplyDeletewokandspoon
ReplyDeletei too had many attempts that they just do not smile - just like a bald head. Don't give up if you like this cake. Tip 1 : Whisk the batter
Tip 2 : heat the cups before putting the paper cups and fill them 90%, nearly to the rim.
Tip 3 : Try and have the highest steam that can be created and do not open the steamer lid/cover before 15 minutes.
hope these tips help
Hi Lily
ReplyDeleteHave you tried dipping your spatula into some corn oil and then making an 'X' on the top of your fatt koh before steaming? It works for me...
Tatiana
tatiana
ReplyDeletei have tried it and when the steamer is not right perhaps it is altitude herem it does not burst, it will only smile politely
Hi Lily
ReplyDeleteActually I think your fatt kohs look great; maybe your you have high expectations :) Anyway, I am also on high altitude (Logan, Utah), though not as high as yours perhaps, and I was happy when my chinese cakes (Amy Beh's palm sugar recipe) smiled when I did the spatula-making-x thing. But for that, I did a very drastic measure -- I filled to 100% full, praying it will not overflow. Lucky for me, it didn't and perhaps because it was so full and the steamer was on a roaring boil, it forced the batter up and it actually smiled. For the first time. Haha..
Tatiana
Hi Lily
ReplyDeleteVery lovely and delicious looking fatt koh.
Can i ask - what is the height/size of the spaghetti pot that u used? Do u have to put the bamboo steamer or steaming tray in the spaghetti pot?
regards
anonymous
ReplyDeleteusually spaghetti pot comes with 2 baskets, the deeper one for spaghetti and a shallow on for steaming.
Hi Lily,
ReplyDeleteI think I made something similar on my blog. But I don't know why.. the Indonesians in Holland call the cakes Kue Mangkok.. and always contains coconut rasps.. :) I don't really like them either.. I made them for my colleague, who is partly Indonesian :).. It's good to make people happy!
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteGreat website and great recipes indeed.
Have you ever tried making pak tong koh-sticky very white rice cakes?
Love to have a good recipe for that.
anonymous
ReplyDeletei did make pak tong koh once and did not like the texture. the beehive effect was there but the cake was not soft enough.
am still searching for another recipe
Hi Lily,
ReplyDeleteI make the fatt koh tonite and it really turns out smiling so beautiful but why after steaming for 15mins, still inside kind of wet and not really well done?? Should i steam a bit longer?? I used the muffin cup cake (6) pans for steaming.
sally
ReplyDeleteyou should have to cook them a little longer to really cooked the koh. make sure that the condensation from the lid does not drip.
hi lily,
ReplyDeletei love your blog! this fatt koh recipe is great. my dad uses them as offerings when he prays on 1st and 15th of the lunar month. i'm teaching him to make it as well because the recipe is simple. and the results turn out so lovely. :) thanks again！
Hi Lily!
ReplyDeleteI am a very happy person today because succeeded in making 4 big Fat Koh using your recipe. My helper said they looked like those store-bought. Really fatt (smilling). Have tried several recipes but have not got any good result before. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. Will be bringing these fat koh for ching beng prayer tomorrow.
3princesses
Hi Lily
ReplyDeleteI tried yr recipe few days ago. At last, my 3 med-sized huat kueh smiled so happily. Really agreed with you re the steamer. I tried several times using wok to steam but always failed.
But if I am just doing it for praying purposes (may not eat at all), can I not use coconut milk, that means I replace another 150ml water(for coconut milk) besides the 100ml water. Do u think it works ?
Thanks and thumbs up !
Catherine
catherine
ReplyDeleteyes, omit the coconut milk and replace with sugar. this koh needs 100% hydration that is if you are using 100 gm self rising rlour use 100 - 105 ml water but if you want to eat them, increase sugar - 80 gm.
Thanks Lily for yr quick reply.
ReplyDeleteWill try doing without the coconut milk.
Catherine
Can you try to make pumpkin flavoured fatt koh and share the recipe with all of us? Thank you. Your fatt koh look fantastic.
ReplyDeleteanonymous
ReplyDeleteyou could follow this recipe http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2006/09/tarosweet-potato-fatt-koh.html and replace taro/sweet potato with pumpkin
Hi Lily,
ReplyDeleteI have tried using this recipe to make my fatt koh, however, my cakes turn out to be very sticky and heavy. The heat of the steamer is hot enough, and i have followed the recipe accordingly, except the coconut milk. I have subsidize it with water instead - 250 ml water but not sure why it turn out differently. Can you advise me?
By the way,if using the same method,
thank you for your time.
christine
ReplyDeletei could only presume that the koh must be undercooked. It needs at least 15 - 20 minutes to cook.
Dear Ms Lilyng,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely fatt koh recipe. I tried ant it turned out very well. I would like to know if I can reduce the weight of coconut milk and mix it with water to match the same weight as your recipe?? Will it turn out as same before?? Thanks.
Maureen July 12, 2009
maureen
ReplyDeleteyes, you can, it will be just as delicious
Lily, Thanks for the recipe. It works great at my kitchen too here: http://www.mywisewife.com/home-kitchen-recipe-chinese-smiling-steamed-cake-huat-kuih.html
ReplyDeleteWishing you & family a Happy Chinese New Year!